KIAMS Alumnus Abhishek Tiwari talks about learning the importance of getting things right in the first go

Posted on: July 11, 2013

Abhishek Tiwari has been an entrepreneur long enough to know that there are always going to be good days and bad days. It is probably the reason why he treats every day the same; following his time-table religiously. An alumnus of Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies, Abhishek founded Pinnacle Training & Development Solutions in 2009.

His day starts sharp at 7 AM. He first heads to a prominent B-school in Indore, where he takes a 2-hour lecture between 9 AM and 11 AM every day. By the time he reaches office at 11.30, he is ready to hit the ground running. He gets on with self-assigned tasks of answering important mails, and making phone calls to explore possible leads. He dedicates the second half of the day to designing and approving proposals of training to clients, as well as developing content for ongoing training programmes for various companies. He signs off his day by taking a report from his marketing team, his backend team, and also speaking to the team leads of his 2 branch offices in other state capitals of India. From 10 PM – 11 PM Abhishek spends time for self development, trying to keep abreast with the ongoing things in the surrounding to remain alive and fresh in the run.

“I gave up my job to start this venture. The call was risky, but KIAMS prepares you to back yourself. Pinnacle started out more as a dream; with a capital of barely 10,000 Rupees and a room in my flat for an office. Indian industry has a deeply ingrained misconception that Training is a cost and not an investment. When the markets are slack and revenues go down, the first axe of cost cutting falls on ‘Training’. To survive in such a scenario has not been easy, yet one has simply to put one’s head down and keep things going.”

And things have been going rather successfully! The “one-man, one-room, 10 thousand rupee” start-up, today has offices across 3 cities, employing as many as 13 professionals, and its turnover is well in lakhs.

“It’s perhaps dealing with the competition at KIAMS that equips you so well for the corporate world. I got placed quite late since I was neither an engineer, nor was I amongst the toppers of my batch. It was really frustrating for me back then to be out of the competition. It is at this point that I was placed on-campus at KIAMS with ICICI Bank. It turned out to be a great platform for me. The entire placement experience at KIAMS taught me that the fruit of patience is always sweeter. It also prepared me to face the internal competition at work.”

Abhishek still carries snippets of KIAMS in his memory.

“Dr. Iyengar and Air Cdr. Krishna Shankar, the Rotunda – which was the centre of our lives, night hangouts at Raghu’s corner and Feroz’s shop, late night preparations for assignments and exams… I still carry a bagful of memories. At KIAMS, out of many lessons, one that really stood out was that ‘Life will not give you a second chance. So better do it right the first time’. Trust me, I still follow that concept and give my best in the first go itself.”

Abhishek Tiwari believes that placements in his industry is tough and will remain so unless there is a mindset change. However, he advises the youngsters of KIAMS that if one is passionate about one’s work, is honest to one’s profession, and is innovative in whatever he/she does, then economic ups and downs become inconsequential.